By DREW WINCHESTER
STAFF WRITER
It was May 17 when North Carolina resident Steven Anthony Siderias pleaded no-contest in a Sarasota County courtroom to one count of interfering with the custody of a minor.
He received credit for serving 90 days, paid a small fine, and was released from jail. Six days later, the 47-year-old’s body was discovered on the side of the road near the Florida-Georgia border, the victim of an apparent suicide.
It was a tragic and surprising end for Siderias, who on the surface appeared to be a successful former military man who started Extreme Outfitters, a supplier of military, law enforcement and outdoor equipment with stores in North Carolina and Georgia.
But although he boasted a lifestyle that included a home in the mountains and several high-priced cars, Siderias came into the local spotlight in March for something entirely different after he was arrested in a Fredrick, Md., motel with a 16-year-old North Port boy whom he picked up in a black Porsche days earlier.
According to a -police report released at the time of his arrest, Siderias had met the victim on a website called ‘Adam for Adam,’ which the report describes as a gay dating site where younger boys went to meet ‘older men.’
The victim was supposed to be going camping with friends that weekend, but instead was with Siderias, who took the boy from North Port to his mountain home in Purlear, N.C., and then north to Fredrick, where he was eventually arrested by Maryland authorities.
The report states the boy was posting images of Siderias’ vehicles on Facebook during their time together, including the Porsche, a Hummer H3 and a Porsche Cayenne truck.
Reached by phone Monday, a relative of the victim said a large group of children in the community are using the website for prostitution purposes, adding the victim was raped repeatedly while with Siderias.
Exact details of Siderias’ death were unavailable Monday, as officials from the Hamilton County, Fla., Sheriff’s Office and the medical examiner’s office in Jacksonville, Fla., declined comment, saying the investigation is still open and ongoing. The medical examiner’s office in Jacksonville handles autopsy duties for Hamilton County, according to its website, among several other North Florida counties.
But a death certificate obtained by the Sun states that Siderias’ body was discovered one mile north of County Road 132, off Highway 41, just south of Jasper, Fla. The cause of death is not listed, but it shows his date of death as May 23 and his place of death as an RV. It also states he was survived by his parents, Michael and Frances, who live in Bethlehem, Pa.
Kevin McCartney, an Idaho resident and 26-year acquaintance of Siderias, declined to comment for this story, but confirmed that he and Siderias served in the Navy together from 1986-87. According to an obituary in the Morning Call newspaper of Lehigh Valley, Pa., Siderias served 13 years in the Navy.
As the chief executive officer for Extreme Outfitters, Siderias started out by forming Extreme Sports in 1997, when it was based just outside Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base in Virginia Beach, Va.
According to the company’s website, the business expanded to include sale of ‘tactical gear’ and with the ‘help of many fine’ law enforcement and military professionals, grew over the years and expanded to two other states.
Siderias was the plaintiff in a 2011 civil suit filed in the 2nd Judicial Circuit of Virginia against Richard Johnson and Jonathan Johnson of Drajon Inc., another tactical outfitting firm that claims to have formerly been known as Extreme Outfitters, according to its website, and is also based in Virginia Beach.
Siderias’ Richmond, Va.-based attorney, D. Brooke Stephenson, could not be reached for comment, but according to the Virginia Beach Clerk of Courts website, the civil suit is still active.
Email: dwinchester@sun-herald.com
Originally published in the June 18 editions of the Charlotte and North Port Sun.
Drew Winchester 